TechJapan

PSP photo/video report

Gaming / Sony
Posted by zmcnulty on Dec 29, 2004 - 11:24 PM

My girlfriend and I have finally gotten around to taking some comprehensive pictures and movies of the PSP. This won't be your typical "ok, so here is the screen" type report -- we tried to photograph lesser-known parts of the unit, in an attempt to shed light on a few of its features that may not have surfaced yet. It has, after all, been out for more than 2 weeks.

Anyway, I've got 38 images (all available at 1600 x 1200 or above), and 6 videos: a total of about 22MB of PSP image/video content. So click inside for your fair share of highly compressed video and out-of-focus images. Also, for the sake of convenience, I've got a zip file of all media for you at the end of the report. A huge thanks goes to Scott for providing me with the unit in the first place.

Update: I've changed some settings so that people from other sites [1] can't download the files directly. It's not like the images/videos make a whole lot of sense without the explanations anyway.

-Hardware

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As many have said before me, the first thing you notice about the PSP is its screen. At 4.3" with 480 x 272 pixels, it doesn't look like much on paper; there are, after all, plenty of other devices with 640 x 480 screens of the same dimensions.

But that certainly doesn't steal any thunder from the PSP. The screen is crisp, bright, and Sony appears to use antialiased text throughout the entirety of their XMB GUI. This makes for excellent text legibility. The first thing I thought after seeing the PSP's screen was "the DS can't touch this with a 10 foot pole." Call me a Sony fanboy, call me what you will -- but the PSP undeniably has one of the finest screens I've seen on a handheld device of any sort. Hand it to Sharp, as they're the ones responsible for the production of every PSP's screen.

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One thing I don't like about the PSP's screen is that it is incredibly glossy. We're talking Gran Turismo style shiny here. I took a picture of the screen from straight on (with my girlfriend's dinky camera, no less), and as you can see, the screen more or less acts as a mirror. Because of the glossiness of the screen, the slightest dust or fingerprint shows up very easily. You'll likely find yourself wiping the screen frequently, and frankly, I wish the Value Pack included some sort of cloth. Still, this enormous amount of gloss may be the result of an enormous amount of protection -- I'm yet to scratch the PSP's screen. Not like I'm trying to, though. I'm not entirely sure what the PSP would look like without the glossy screen, but I sort of wish Sony had done something about it.

Besides that, the PSP has very solid hardware. There have been a couple reports of faulty PSPs, whether that be a drive that doesn't close entirely, bubbles in the screen, or even UMDs that fly out of the units, and we're willing to believe them. Why? Of the three PSPs our man in Japan purchased, two of them had defects: one had a couple dead pixels, and the other had a couple dead pixels AND a UMD cover that didn't fit snugly.

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How does the PSP felt to be held in your hand? Pick up a (official) Playstation controller (preferably a Dual Shock for weight purposes), and imagine the same thing, just flat. That's almost exactly how the PSP feels. Add a bit of width, remove one of the analog sticks, and you're good to go. Beyond that, the directional pad and buttons are in the same place -- the left and right shoulder buttons are at first difficult to get used to, but they'll soon feel natural. You certainly won't be uncomfortable holding the PSP for hours on end (or at least as long as the battery lasts). one slight complaint I have, however, is that the silver-colored casing doesn't fit perfectly flush with the rear black-colored casing, and depending on how you hold the PSP, it could chafe.

Here's a couple other things I'd like to point out about the PSP hardware. These aren't good or bad (yet), I just hadn't realized them before actually holding a PSP in my hands:

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-Surrounding the USB connector on the top of the PSP, there appear to be power connectors and mounting holes. Or at least that's what I presume they are. Looks like Sony has a few things in mind in regards to PSP accessories.

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-The shoulder buttons aren't behind those transparent plastic things, the shoulder buttons are the transparent plastic things. Yeah, leave it to me to not realize something so simple.

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-The PSP's power button has two positions (apart from idle). To turn the unit on, you slide it up much like any other device. But it's also got a hold position, and putting the power in this position will cause the PSP's buttons to not work (like any other hold). one important note here is that even if the main unit is on hold, the included remote won't be on hold. More on the accessories later.

[10]

-Here's the inside of the PSP's UMD drive. Looks pretty straightforward. This is as "open" as my PSP will ever be, hopefully. I've also got a pic of a game going in using the proper orientation later in the report, so keep an eye out.

On to Accessories in the next page. Click below.
-Accessories

Because I got a PSP Value Pack, I received a Memory Stick, case, strap, headphones, and remote control with my PSP, in addition to the standard battery and charger. Neither Value Pack nor standard run PSP includes a cradle -- something I expect to be introduced in time. It did not include a Demo Disc, as some sources had led me to believe.

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The case that comes with the PSP isn't what I'd call a case. I'd put it more along the lines of "protective sleeve." It's nothing more than a black case with the PSP logo. I'd have asked for at least a little pocket on the back to hold an additional UMD, or perhaps even a small pocket for another Memory Stick Duo, but I'm not in charge of SCE. As such, don't expect the Value Pack's included case to be your final PSP case. It does, however, fit the PSP like a glove. Also, because of the positioning of the power connector on the PSP itself, you can connect your adapter to the PSP while it's still in its case. You certainly wouldn't want your ultra-glossy screen to get all dusty while the PSP recharges overnight.

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On to the included remote control, which is sub-par. There is no LCD, and it features buttons for play/pause, volume up, volume down, next track, and previous track. It's also got a clip on the back, but being the American that I am, I know nothing of clipping remote to any part of my body. As such, I expect my remote to forever sit at the bottom of my PSP box. I already own an MP3 player, and don't intend to use my PSP as one. Because I can't find a use for the remote other than MP3 playback, I don't think it's very useful to me for the time being.

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Here's a good point to bring in the included inner-ear type earphones. Plain and simple, these are Sony's own just rebranded with a PSP logo. What did you expect? I find their quality to be acceptable, but I'm a headphones man myself. Regardless, I've taken a pic of them for you.

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I'd like to point something out about the PSP's design here. The positioning of the headphone/remote port on the PSP is, like the power port, towards the outside. If you use the included setup, it will plug in looking like the first picture. But if you don't use the included headphones, and have some with the "L-shape" at the end, it would serve you best to move the L towards the inside of the PSP, so that you don't accidentally knock it out while playing. Just a pointer.

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A 32MB Memory Stick Duo is included with the PSP Value Pack, which may or may not give you enough space. Note that the pictured Memory Stick Adapter is not included, and is pictured only for comparison purposes. Moji Pittan's packaging lists 192KB of required free space, and Lumines' packaging lists 96KB of required free space. Averaging these two (because that's really all I have to go by) gives you 144KB -- presuming every save game you save to the PSP is around this big, you'll be able to fit about 227 games' save data on a 32MB stick. Still, 144KB is a bold assumption. Even so, because of the PSP's multimedia capabilities (more on these later), you'll likely want to pick up a larger stick. I got a 512MB Memory Stick Duo from NewEgg for about $75, so if you plan on using your PSP for video playback and so forth, certainly invest in something larger. I also purchased a 64MB Memory Stick Duo. I plan on using the 64MB stick for save games, and the 512MB stick for multimedia. But those are just my habits, so certainly see how things pan out for you with the included 32MB stick before you go buying anything larger.

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The PSP also includes a leather strap, for one reason or another. I expect this has something to do with the Japanese obsession with straps, whether they be on cell phones, PDAs, or people. once again, my American-ness shows here, and I don't expect a white strap to be hanging from my PSP anytime soon. The strap has the four Playstation buttons "engraved" (if that's the correct word) at the end, and is intended to be hung from the lower left of the PSP by the headphone connector.

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One final "accessory" to mention is the USB connection. A USB cable is NOT included with the PSP. You'll need to pick one of these up. The connector type is "USB Mini," I believe. My suggestion here is to get a cable prior to getting your PSP. Vendors such as Best Buy, Fry's, and Circuit City wanted to charge me like $20 for the same cable I got for $3 from NewEgg. I recommend getting one before you get your PSP, so you won't be driven to splurge when the time comes. Here's a pic of the connector on the PSP itself, and a cable I got that fits it. Note that if you have a digital camera that connects by USB, you may want to take a look at its cable before going and buying another -- you may be able to use the same one. The PSP connects by USB 2.0, and because of the "PRO" in Memory Stick PRO Duo, transfers between PC and PSP are very speedy. one thing I wish Sony had included, however, was some sort of server functionality for the PSP. For example, why couldn't the PSP simply be recognized as a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device, eliminating the need for a USB cable?

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And that's your standard battery and adapter. I took a pic of the adapter because I've had some difficulty coming across another adapter that does 5V. Would 4.5V be too little, or 6V be too much? Anyone know?

Please continue on to UMD, on the next page.
-UMD

UMD, or "Universal Media Disc," doesn't yet live up to its name. With a 1.8GB capacity, though, I hope things work out as planned for the format.

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A UMD looks strikingly similar to a MiniDisc. In fact, I'm willing to believe it is the bastard child of Hi-MD, somehow mixed with DVD technology to give it a higher capacity in a small space. Here's the three games I received with my PSP. The cases are like any other DVD case, but slightly smaller. Here's the PSP on top of a case.

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Click the image below for a video of inserting a UMD into the PSP, and starting the game. (DivX 5, 2.74MB, 1:05)

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The PSP's menu is very smooth and easy to use. Coverage of it on the next page.
-Menu

I'm a sucker for nice GUIs, and the PSP excels in this department. Equipped with XMB, or "Cross Media Bar," the same GUI Sony has loaded onto the Playstation2/Digital Video Recorder hybrid "PSX," the PSP's menu gets far more attention than does the menu of the PS2. In fact, inserting a game doesn't automatically start it anymore -- you'll need to go under "Game" and select "UMD." Here's a quick breakdown of the main menu items and their submenus.

1. Settings
-Network Update: Connects to wireless LAN to download the latest PSP firmware (I think, because mine says "latest version of the system is already installed").
-USB Connection: You'll need to go here when you plug your PSP into your PC.
-Video Settings: Self-explanatory. Options include Menu Language, Audio Language, Subtitle Language, and UMD Video Volume. As far as I can tell, none of these options apply to video stored on Memory Stick.
-Photo Settings: The only setting to adjust here is the Slideshow Speed.
-System Settings: Self-explanatory. Use this option to change your PSP's nickname (used for netgames), set the system language, check battery information, format the memory stick, and so forth. Also, includes Restore Default Settings, System Information, and About PSP.
-Date and Time Settings: Self-Explanatory. Options include a Date Format, (YYYY/MM/DD), Time Format (24 hour), Time Zone, and Daylight Savings Time. The PSP is also loaded with a pretty cool feature that automatically changes the GUI background color depending on the month. I've got a video of all 12 colors the PSP will cycle through, so take a look. I haven't found a way to manually set this color (besides changing the date, of course). Click the image below for that video (DivX 5, 1.98MB, 0:43)

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-Power Save Settings: If you want your PSP's backlight to turn off after 5 minutes instead of 10, see here. The WLAN Power Save mode, which turns the wireless LAN on and off as needed, is in this menu.
-Sound Settings: Includes AVLS (Automatic Volume Limiting System, I think), and Key Tones. That "click click" sound while navigating menus can get old, fast.
-Security Settings: Set a Password, set a parental control level for all of those porno UMDs that are bound to exist someday.
-Network Settings: Includes network connectivity settings. The first choice you are faced with is whether to setup AdHoc networks or Infrastructure networks (see 802.11b). Ad-Hoc's only option is what channel to use; I just left mine on Automatic. In Infrastructure setup, you have the option to create a number of connections the PSP can use (much like Windows' Networking). Options to setup the connections include setting an SSID, Encryption, manual configurations for DNS, IP addresses, net mask, default router, and a proxy server.
2. Photos: Self-explanatory. For now, my menu includes "Memory Stick." See the "Imaging" section.
3. Music: Self-explanatory. Here's where you'll go to play MP3s and ATRAC3 files. See the "Music" section.
4. Video: Self-explanatory. This is where you'll go to play video from your Memory Stick or UMD-Video, I presume. See the "Video" section.
5. Game: Self-explanatory
-Game Sharing: An option I haven't been able to test myself. When I select it, it says "Searching for players" and turns on the wireless LAN. I guess I'll have to wait until more people pick up a PSP to find out what this does. I'm thinking it's along the lines of the Nintendo DS's game sharing feature.
-Saved Data Utility: Works almost exactly like the saved data utility on the PS2, except a bit easier to work with. Saved data can be viewed, deleted, copied, and so forth. one interesting though laborious feature here is the Copy feature, allowing save games to be copied from one Memory Stick to another using one PSP. You're required to swap memory sticks three times during the process, so let's hope it's a save game worth copying.
-UMD: You'll go here to start your game when you insert a UMD. A small introduction will play depending on the game you've inserted, giving you a chance to review your selection before you decide to play.
-Memory Stick: Memory Stick games? Yes indeed. I don't know of any that exist yet, but I do recall a Sony person dropping hints about game demos being released for play from the Memory Stick.

Click the image below for a video of me navigating through the PSP's menus (DivX 5, 2.82MB, 1:10)

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Continuing, we go into the PSP's image playback functionality.
-Imaging

Photos are well supported by the PSP. Options include zoom, where you can even use the analog pad to navigate around the image, rotation, and so forth. The PSP appears to use vectorization of the images, too, in order to make things go more smoothly. I'm yet to get any images other than JPEG to work, so if you happen to get something else going, please let me know. The PSP obviously supports PNG (as the savegame's images are stored in PNG), so I'm wondering why Photo mode doesn't support the format.

Click the image below for a video demonstration of the image functionality (DivX 5, 2.04MB, 0:40).

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On the next page, we cover Audio.
-Audio Playback

Before you make any conclusions about the PSP's audio playback functionality, remember that I don't plan on using my PSP as an MP3 player. I may have a song on it for one reason or another, but to be completely honest, I haven't tested this feature too much.

From the "Music" menu, you select your Memory Stick, then select your track, and you're ready to go. I've heard of one person complain about a lack of sub-folder support, but they must mean multiple levels -- just loading albums as folders into the unit presents no problem. one thing I was unable to figure out, though, was Album Art; the PSP clearly has support for such a thing. I suspect this has to do with either ATRAC3 files or ID3 tags (because the PSP supports both of the above). I tried having a file in the folder named "album_name.jpg" to go with the folder's name, but that didn't seem to work. I was also unable to get my year-old version of SonicStage (Sony's software for creating and managing ATRAC3 files) to recognize the PSP, so I couldn't test ATRAC3 at all. Hopefully someone can figure it out.

Of all the PSP's features, I'd say the MP3 playback is probably the area that could use the most work. There appears to be no visualization support, no playlist support, and no support for extended playback effects such as SRS WOW. Still, the PSP is certainly suitable as a second or third MP3 player. IGN has posted an extended battery life guide [43] on the PSP, and they list it being able to play MP3s for about 10 hours with the screen off.

Click the image below for a video demonstration of the audio playback functionality (DivX 5, 2.71MB, 1:03).

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On the next page, we're covering one of the PSP's most interesting features -- video playback.
-Video

Finally, we have PSP video playback. I won't go in to how to create videos for the PSP too much, because of its simplicity -- a piece of software called the "3GP Convertor" has been created just for this purpose. You drag your DivX/XviD/whatever files into the software, select your quality setting, and it will churn out a .mp4 file ready to be loaded onto a Memory Stick and played on your PSP. There's a couple other things involved in the process, but Engadget has laid nearly all of them out in their excellent HOWTO guide about creating videos for playback on the PSP [45]. By all means, take a look.

Because of the PSP's screen, video playback on the unit is nothing short of fantastic. Video files need to be renamed in order to be recognized by the PSP (see the Engadget guide), but that's ok -- all file names are retained in the extended MPEG-4 information, which is recognized by the unit. In other words, you may have to rename "BattleRoyale.avi" to "M4V31248.mp4," but when you actually go to play it on the PSP, it will still show up as "BattleRoyale."

One shortcoming of the video playback is the limited resolution -- all videos have to be 320 x 240. Considering the 16:9 aspect ratio of the PSP's screen, you'd think Sony would have thrown in some support for MPEG-4 video of the same aspect ratio (because 320 x 240 videos are 4:3). As it turns out, however, MPEG-4 video in an aspect ratio OTHER than 4:3 isn't officially MPEG-4 compliant, so I'm thinking that's what led them to do so. Still, I'm hoping someone comes up with a hack to solve this problem, because otherwise, you're forced to lose some of your video or watch things at the wrong aspect ratio. There's a couple options here -- more on this later.

Once you've got your video selected, press O, and it will immediately begin playback. If you hit X to exit video playback at any point, then go back to the video, it will resume where you left off. This doesn't appear to last through a power-off, though, meaning you'll need to remember where you left off in your video should you need to stop halfway through for whatever reason. Again, this is hopefully something Sony can fix in a future firmware update.

Your video is now playing. Pressing triangle brings up a small control panel, giving you a few options. Not only are normal playback controls available (including those can be normally accessed by pressing the buttons...for example, right arrow sets different levels of fast-forward, and left sets rewind), but there are extended options. Here's where the aspect ratio comes back into play. "Screen Mode" allows you to select what sort of playback mode you'd like for your video. "Original" shows the video in a 320 x 240 block on the PSP (actually creating a total of about a half inch of space above and below the video; because 240 is 32 pixels short of 272), "Normal" will blow the video up to 366 x 272 (still 4:3), "Zoom" displays video that's 480 x 320 (still 4:3, but cuts off some video at top and bottom), then finally "Full Screen" which forces 320 x 240 video into a 480 x 272 screen (thus changing your aspect ratio to 16:9, making things look stretched). Because I'd rather have wasted space on my screen than a video in the wrong aspect ratio, I find myself using "Normal."

Display provides a bar on top and bottom of the video display information such as name, duration, and such, similar to that of the display on the Music playback mode.

Finally, two playback options I was happy to see are Slow Motion and Frame Advance. I'm not entirely sure why Sony would include such modes on a player of this size (hell, I don't think my DVD player even has Slow Motion), but as far as I'm concerned, the more the merrier.

Click the image below for a video demonstration of the PSP's video playback functionality (DivX 5, 2.60MB, 0:56).

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Conclusions on the next and final page.
-Conclusions

So there you have it. All in all, I'm satisfied with the first run of PSPs. Apart from a few minor software flaws easily solved by a firmware update or two, the PSP is a solid piece of hardware, entirely worth the estimated $250 USD cost. Between the multimedia functionality, networking support, and expandability, the PSP provides a value-per-dollar mix suitable for basically anyone interested in gadgets. And that's not even mentioning the PS2 quality games.

Let's just take a quick look at some of the costs, if the components were purchased in different places:

-WiFi finder: $25
-Portable image display with 4.3" color LCD, Memory Stick Duo support: $100 (not that such a device exists)
-Portable MP3/ATRAC3 player with 4.3" color LCD, Memory Stick Duo only: $100 (not that such a device exists either)
-Portable MPEG-4 player with 4.3" color LCD, Memory Stick Duo and UMD-Video: $200 (not that such a device exists, too)

minus the ~$75 cost of a 512MB Memory Stick Duo required for doing all of the above besides WiFi

That's about $350 USD worth of hardware, jammed into this small package. once again, I didn't even include any reference to gaming in there -- these features are based solely on the "extra" features the PSP provides. As far as I'm concerned, the PSP is a steal at such a low price point.

By the way, here's that zip file [47] I was talking about. Enjoy.